If there’s a hitter who might have even a remote shot of getting traded, the Pirates have asked about him. One surprising name they took a run at: Kansas City’s favorite All-Star folk hero, Billy Butler. But the Pirates are still in a buy-low frame of mind. And the Royals have told a few clubs that inquired that they’d have to be blown away to deal their All-Star.

There’s plenty of speculating that can be done here, but really, it seems to me that the bottom line is that the Pirates are interested in adding a bat to their lineup, that they don’t necessarily need to just get a rental player if the right player is available, and that they have a ton of flexibility as to where said additional bat could play (four corners, shortstop). They’re also not likely to overpay for said bat, which is why they’re not leaving any stone unturned at this point. What’s actually going to happen? From here, your guess is as good as mine.

About Pat Lackey

In 2005, I started a WHYGAVS instead of working on organic chemistry homework. Many years later, I've written about baseball and the Pirates for a number of sites all across the internet, but WHYGAVS is still my home. I still haven't finished that O-Chem homework, though.